ENRC proposes a quarantine for foreign listings in London

MINING group ENRC has called for a quarantine period for foreign firms listing in London, to ensure companies have time to adjust to the UK’s stock market rules.

ENRC, which has been beset with problems ranging from boardroom fallouts to a corruption investigation since it listed in 2007, complained that “the London commentariat” were unsympathetic to its attempts to adhere to the listing requirements.

The firm will shortly give up its premium listing on the London Stock Exchange as its Kazakh founders take over the firm.

“[I]t is the group’s view that although fast, its evolution from a private, Kazakh-based company to the scrutiny appropriate for a FTSE 100 company was not fast or flexible enough to prevent the natural adjustment being played out in an unsympathetic way among the London commentariat,” it said in a paper for the business, innovation and skills select committee.

It gave no details of the quarantine proposal but compared it to the junior market Aim, which has less stringent requirements.

The UK Listing Authority is expected to publish a consultation on the listing rules for foreign-based companies within weeks.